Ben Kale
Ben Kale is a student currently attending Twin Branches High. He is a sweet, popular nerdy kid who, at first, gets picked on by the new bully Spencer, who eventually turns to be his best friend. Ben received a big change during the game's major change in September 2012 and he is now one of the most popular kids in school and is referred to as 'The Party Guy'. He is currently dating Emily Kessler and is on the basketball team. Ben's most notable storyline has been his relationship with Jessica. Storylines Ben started out as one of the school nerds and he did not have many friends. Ben was bullied by new school bully Spencer. Ben met Denni, however, and they started dating. Jessica then broke Ben and Denni up as she wanted to use Ben to run him for school president so that she could be first lady. Jessica changed Ben's appearance and the popular kids started to notice him. Ben remained unaware of Jessica's schemes and considered her a good girlfriend. Jessica then rigged the vote so that Ben could become school president and Jessica was first lady. Zoe and Taylor then exposed Jessica in front of the whole school and Ben found out that Jessica was only using him and that the vote was rigged. Ben and Jessica then broke up and Jessica transferred to Monarch Prep. Ben then befriended Colt who originally disliked Ben as he thought he tried too hard and thought that his girlfriend, Denni, still liked Ben. Ben then got Colt out of trouble with the police and instead sacrificed himself which made Ben grow on Colt. In the game's major change in September 2012, Ben received a character change. Ben is now one of the most popular guys at Twin Branches high. Ben was also given another look and is best friends with Spencer. On Ben's Junior year, Ben met Emily Kessler who he instantly had a crush on, although Dominique Clark, Emily's enemy had a crush on Ben. Ben and Emily started to get closer when Emily attended Ben's house party. Ben told Emily how he isn't interested in Dominique and Ben and Emily are able to escape from Dominique when she is desperate to get Ben's attention. Ben and Emily eventually start dating and Ben opens up to Emily about his parent's divorce. Ben is not allowed to Homecoming, however, because of his low grades. Ben then works hard and his grades improve. Ben is then allowed to Homecoming. Dominique then reveals to Emily's father about Ben and Emily's relationship and he is furious. Emily then breaks up with Ben. Ben and Emily later get back together, however, and he takes her to Homecoming. When Ben realizes that Emily missed the Junior Nationals for swimming to go to Homecoming, Ben immediately drives Emily to the Junior Nationals and Emily wins her race. Emily's father still dissaproves of Ben as he believes he is not masculine enough so Ben joins the basketball team and turns out to be the best player. Emily's father likes Ben because of this. Ben and Emily's relationship becomes troubled when Emly believes that Ben is trying too hard to impress her father. Emily is also annoyed that Ben will not work harder to get closer to his own father. When Ben talks to his father, Emily grows respect for Ben again. Ben then acts as Romeo in Samantha Davis and Zoe's version of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Emily acts as Juliet. However, Andrew sabotages the play, causing Ben to fall of the stage and injure his leg. He then ends up in a wheelchair. Ben decides to rejoin Robotics Club when he finds out about the robot, L.Y.L.E having problems. The nerds are happy about him rejoining. Personality Ben started out as shy and nerdy although when he started dating Jessica, he became more cool and popular. Ben also became rebellious when he started skipping classes, not doing his homework and getting suspended from school although he shaped up when he started dating Emily. Ben also became manly and a jock when he joined the basketball team and is currently one of the most popular guys at Twin Branches. Ben is still nerdy and highly intelligent, however. He is also interested in Science. Age When Ben first appeared in the game, he was said to be a Freshman. One year later, Howard stated that Ben was a Sophomore. One year after this, Zoe said that Ben was still an Underclassmen meaning that Ben must have been a Junior. Ben is currently a Senior. Love Interests Denni Fallon Ben had a crush on Denni. At first she did not respond to his advances because she was too wrapped up with Colt. They kissed in the episode, Homecoming Game. But then there was some tension because Denni accidentally kissed Colt thinking he was Ben. However, in the episode, Halloween Party, Part 2,﻿ they officially became a couple. They dated for a short time until Jessica decided she wanted Ben as her boyfriend, so she could be First Lady. Jessica hatched a plan to steal Ben from Denni, which succeeded. After Ben kisses Jessica, Denni finds this unforgivable and makes their break up final. Jessica Blaire After Justin breaks up with her, she knows she needs a new person to give her the presidential privileges that were given to her when she was dating Justin. She then starts breaks up Denni and Ben, so that she can date Ben. They kiss which officially ends Ben and Denni's relationship. Jessica helps Ben forget about Denni. Jessica cheats to help Ben win the election. As they were dating, Jessica started to develop true feelings for Ben. However, when Zoe bust Jessica for using Ben and breaking him up with Denni, he dumps her out of pure anger. Emily Kessler In the SHS novel it seems that Emily, Kimi, Dominique and all the other freshmen girls are interested in him. It also seems that he is interested in Emily Kessler, giving her the nickname 'Yogurt', after he saw she had submerged her hand in her yogurt by accident. In Season 1 of the New Surviving High School, Ben is dating Emily Kessler where he spends most of the season trying to gain her dad's respect and approval. Swim Retreat, Part 1, starts off with Ben answering a question in class and making an excuse to leave so he could catch Emily before she and her swim team left for an overnight team-building retreat. The Coach disapproves of him ditching class but respects the effort he's put into seeing his daughter before she leaves so he allows them a couple minutes to say goodbye until he has to return to class. Ben listens as Emily's team laughs about an old story and feels uncomfortable when he notices Cameron's smile lingering too long on her for his liking. Emily teases him about being jealous when he expresses concern about Cameron's reputation for being a player and hooking up with a lot of girls. He does, however, send her off telling her that he trusts her. Ben is shown to not like Cameron's friendship with Emily in the bonus scene of Psych Project, Subject: Owen when he asks Emily to not talk about him anymore due to his discomfort. When Cameron puts his arm around Kimi and Emily in The Halloween Dance, Part 1, episode and starts taking pictures, Ben subtly tells him to leave. He accepts their friendship and lets go of his jealousy in that episode's bonus scene when a fortune teller tells the couple that their relationship would fail if they didn't learn to accept one another. In the episode Basketball Tryouts, Ben gets onto the Basketball team with Emily being there to encourage him in order to get back into Emily's dads good graces. Spencer originally rejects and laughs at the idea of Ben trying out for the Basketball team since he thinks that Ben sucks at playing Basketball, but then Spencer becomes impressed with Ben's profound Basketball skills in the tryouts. In the bonus scene, Emily talks with Zoe about how Ben may not have any time for her, as shown when he goes to a pizza restaurant instead of spending time with her. In the episode, Paige's Thanksgiving Party, Ben has Thanksgiving with the Kesslers. Coach Kessler has a lot of enthusiasm for Ben's new interest in basketball to the point that it annoys Emily. In The Snow Ball, Part 1, Emily is with Ben before he leaves for his game. Emily continues to tell Ben he does not have to impress her father anymore. She expresses her annoyance about this to Zoe, Sam, and Kimi. Ben is unable to attend the dance and Emily is unable to attend the game, so they each send pictures of themselves at their events to each other. In the episode's bonus scene, Lars (a player on the opposite team) provokes Ben into receiving a foul by insulting Emily. In The Snow Ball, Part 2, the team loses their game when Ben is distracted with the thought of Emily not being able to make it and misses the hoop. The guys make it back just in time for the remainder of the dance since the game was over quicker than they expected with their loss. Ben can be seen running into the school in a hurry to find Emily before the dance ends. After Autumn's photographs for the showcase are destroyed during Showcase Sabotage, Part 1, Zoe helps Autumn retake photos for the event, choosing Emily and Ben for her two of her themes: passion (Emily) and focus (Ben). Autumn captures a sweet moment between the two after Ben embraces her when she gets out of the pool. Their relationship struggled in Anti-Valentine's Day when they argued during their Valentine's date about Emily's dad and Ben's lack of effort to become closer to his own. Ben tries to get her to let it go but Emily gives him the choice of speaking to his dad next time he sees him or not having Emily at his Sectionals game. Their fight continues into The Art Showcase when Zoe observes that Ben looks "sad" and Spencer explains that the two had a fight, much to his annoyment. It's mentioned and implied during much of the episode that Ben remains this way for the rest of the night as he and Emily continue avoiding each other. He and Emily reconcile in Sectionals when Emily, happy with Ben's efforts to invite his dad to the game, shows up in time for him to see her and make the basket that wins them the game. It's also pointed out by Owen in previous episodes that Emily affects how well Ben plays and that he doesn't do well when she's not there watching him in the stands. Due to their unmistakable chemistry during their audition, Sam and Zoe cast them as Romeo and Juliet in Casting Call. The play starts off well with the actors remembering their cues, but Andrew sabotages the production when he tricks Spencer into running on stage for a line, in conclusion knocking into Ben's prop when he was climbing to the balcony and causing it (and Ben) to crash. Both him and Emily are immediately taken to the hospital by Coach Kessler to be checked out. Ben is revealed to have broken his leg and temporarily confined to a wheelchair while Emily is sick with a cough. Due to being in a wheelchair, Ben is unable to help out Emily and his friends when they leave on a mission to assist in helping Owen break into Monarch Prep to see Paige. He gets his chance in Owen's Eleven '''when he and Emily are mentioned by Kimi to have spent "all week together" coming up with a distraction so that Owen could break in again. Their plan was never truly explained since the plan doesn't make it that far but it was revealed that it included doves and a mysterious liquid Ben had created. Ever since they made up in the '''Sectionals episode, they've spent most of their time away from the group and together (much to Kimi's annoyance). It's mentioned by Nick that he spotted them making out on the roof and Zoe notices Ben distracted during SET prep writing out lists of possible date ideas for him and Emily and throwing notes at her (Ready, S.E.T., Go). Ben also explains in Talent Search they've been spending a lot of time together because of their recent monthiversary (when they honor another month of dating). Their first appearance together in the SHS game was in the second episode where Ben meets up with her after a swim practice and is invited to dinner with her family in order to prove himself. It can also be noted that pre-novel and game, Ben had admittedly known her sister Sara and had attended her funeral to his pay his respects (as seen in the The Storm, Part 2). When Emily experiences anxiety over a comparison between her relationship and his previous one with Jessica in a special bonus chapter for the novel, Ben reassures her that he has tons more fun with Emily than he did with Jessica and that he feels more like himself when he's around her. Appearance ﻿Ben used to wear a blue polo shirt, and had dark brown hair, and blue eyes. In the episode Christmas Break, Ben buys a pair loose comfortable jeans. It is unknown if he still wears them. In the episode Back To School, Ben has a completely different appearance. He looks taller and is actually noticed by the populars (Jessica, Maria). In the episode The Contestants, Jessica gives Ben a makeover, completely altering his appearence, in the clothes that he wears (now a red shirt), his hair (longer style) and facially. To the populars, this is considered an improvement, as they brand him "hot". In season one of the New Surviving High School, Ben gets a new look. Now Ben has light brown hair that goes infront of his face and wears a red shirt. Trivia *Doesn't like Japanese food *His mom moved to New York following his parents divorce, expecting Ben to come with her *He didn't move to New York with his mom because he didn't want to leave all of his friends behind *He was on probation and not allowed to attend any of the upcoming dances until he raised his grades in Surviving High School: The Novel *His dad works to design custom scents and flavors for mass-produced food *His first appearance in the SHS reboot (season 12 with the introduction of Owen) was in the hallway after watching Nate declare Owen as an enemy. *How he plays is affected by his girlfriend Emily Kessler's presense at the game - if she's there, he plays well in order to impress her. If not, he performs poorly. *Won 1st place in an 9th grade pre-calc division for the California Math Olympaid (and previously for 8th grade) *Has his drivers license *Ben has received the most makeovers out of any character (two, and three if you count his appearance in A New Start). *Ben is the only character to go from being a nerd to popular. *All of Ben's makeover's have gotten him noticed and have effected the amount of females who have fallen for him. *Ben is one of the three characters to be in three relationships (Denni, Jessica and Emily) with the other two being Brendan (Kat, Dinah and Taylor) and Sam (Colt, Spencer and Nick). Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Centerscore Student Category:Basketball Team Members Category:Nerd